First steps toward the light
Tojima held up his arm to shield his eyes from the merciless sunlight that rained down apon him in the warm summer afternoon as he stood in a forest clearing. A shadow above him caught his attention. The flying creature swooped down quickly, coming directly for him. Tojima held out his arm, allowing the creature to land. The large, great horned owl picked at it's feathers as it rest on his arm. "Junko, spot anything?." Tojima asked. The owl turned it's head sharply, pointing north west as it "Who'd" loudly. Tojima nodded before heading in that direction with the owl resting on his shoulder. Tojima treaded through the forest in search of the Sakana. He stopped, thinking he'd heard something. Junko "who'd" quietly. Tojima held up a hand to silence her. Just then, Tojima heard a nearby scream. He quickly raced toward the noise, throwing Junko from his shoulder and into the sky. He pushed through the thickening trees before making it to a small clearing. A young woman lie on the ground surrounded by the sharp toothed Sakana. Tojima sprouted four shadow tendril from his back. He struck several of the Sakana, sending them to the ground and catching the attention of the remaining. They charged at him all at once. Tojima held his hand out infront of him, creating a ball of shadow. The ball began to shoot shadow senbon, taking out the charging Sakana. One that had be away from the group charged Tojima from the side, chomping down on his outstretched arm. He slammed his arm, along with the sakana, into a nearby tree.The Sakana lost it's grip and fell to the ground. Another attempted to attack but Junko swooped down, attacking the flying fish with her razor sharp claws. Seeing that the threat had been dealt with, Tojima turned to the young woman. For the first time he got a good look at her. She had brown hair that was pulled up into a pony tail. Her eyes were the same deep brown as her hair, slightly hidden behind black rimmed glasses. She wore a green shirt with a white labcoat thrown over her. "A doctor?, perhaps?." He thought. She wore a khaki skirt that extended to just bellow her knees, black stockings and light green flats. He extended a hand out to her, she quickly took it and got up. "You saved my life, I really owe you one." She said with a nervous laugh as she dusted herself off. "Don't mention it, really. Now go back to wherever you came from before you end up getting yourself killed." Tojima said, walking away. "Hey, wait a second!." The woman yelled. Tojima sighed before turning back around. "What?!" He snapped. The woman winced. "It...it's your arm...it's bleeding. You're hurt." Tojima looked down at his bleeding arm. "So?." He said somewhat confused. She walked up to him. "You should let me bandage it up." She said reaching for his arm. Tojima jumped back. "Don't touch me!....please, don't touch me." He said. The woman sighed. " My name is Annalina Arriola. May I ask yours?." Tojima hesitated. " My name is Tojima Shisen." He said. Annalina smiled at him. "Now, thanks for saving me, really. I'm really grateful for that. So let me help you out." Annalina said, slowely reaching for his arm. Tojima pulled away again but said nothing. Annalina pursed her lips, annoyed. "Wait, did you say Arriola?." Tojima asked. "That would mean that you're related to Lurdes Arriola." Tojima said. Annalina nodded. "He's my father but why does it...you're here about the job, huh?." She said. Tojima nodded. "Please take me to him." Annalina took off her glasses, using her labcoat to clean then. She put them back on before nodding. "Alight." She said. The two made their way into town, walking until they came apon a small two story house near the towns edge. A handmade sign read "Vet" above the front door. Annalina waved for Tojima to follow her. They entered the home/business. "Dad!, I'm home. There's someone here who wants to see you!." She yelled. "Welcome home, Annalina. I will just be a moment." A heavily accented voice yelled from another room. Annalina sat down at in a nearby chair. " Do you want something to drink?. Water?, Tea?, Coffee?." She asked. Tojima shook his head. "No thank you." He said waving her off. Lurdes entered room. He was a short man, his hair was black with slivers of grey beginning to form. "How may I help you?." Lurdes asked, extending his hand. Tojima reluctantly shook Lurdes' hand. " I'm a mage from Koma Inu. I was hoping I could ask you afew things about the job you requested." Tojima said. Lurdes nodded. "I'm glad you came. I actually have a theory about where these Sakana came from." Lurdes said motioning for Tojima to follow him. Tojima followed him to an operating room. A sakana lie on the table in the middle of the room. "I asked my friend, a trapper, to bring me one of the sakana from the forest. I've been studying the one he brought me for afew days now and have come to the conclusion that these Sakana are not suited for this climate at all." Lurdes explained. "Which would mean this is not their natural habitat." Tojima said. "Yes, exactly!." Lurdes said as he quickly walked toward a tray that sat next to the table. He held up a scale. "They're from a mountainous region, probably the mountains not far from here." Lurdes explained. " And you think that something happened up in the mountains that made that Sakana leave?." Tojima asked. "Yes, something is making them leave their natural habitat and I doubt it's anything good." Lurdes said. "Then I will go check it out." Tojima said. "Do you have a map of the area that I can use?." "I can take you, I know that area pretty well." Annalina said, standing in the doorway. Lurdes shook his head. "No way, your brother can go. It's too dangerous." he said. "Nathan is in the next town over, he left this morning." She said. Lurdes sighed. "Ah, that's right." Lurdes said with a sigh. "Don't worry about it. I don't need a guide. Thank you for your time." Tojima said. "Lurdes checked his watch. "It's almost sundown, there's a guest house out back. Stay here and leave in the morning." Lurdes said. Tojima shook his head. "No, I should get going." Tojima said. "Nonsense, I insist." Lurdes said. Tojima sat in the dusty guest house, a dim light illuminated the small room. He pulled up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing the bite wound he'd gotten earlier in the day. It had stopped bleeding by now and looked much better than he'd thought it would. Using supplies from his bag, Tojima cleaned and dressed the wound. He thought about how Annalina had offered to clean and dress it earlier. He felt an emptiness in his chest and decided not to linger on the thought too long and just go to bed. He sighed quietly as he lie back onto the bed. The cloud of dust that surrounded him was further proof that no one had been in here for a long time. He waved the dust away before closing his eyes and attempting to get some sleep.Tojima awoke just before sunrise, collecting his things, and leaving a note of thank you. Tojima headed off toward the mountains. After several hours, the sun had rose high into the sky. Tojima found a fallen log just off the trail where he sat to eat lunch. Opening his knapsack, he pulled out a loaf of stale bread. He split the bread 60/ 40 with Junko who nipped at the bread happily. He patted to owls head with a smile. The smile soon faded as he sighed. "You've been following me for awhile now, please come out from behind that tree." Tojima said throwing a knife at a nearby tree. The knife buries itself in the tree. The person behind the tree yelled with a 'eeek!'. The person fell to the ground and began to scoot away. Tojima's eyes widened. "Ah, I should have know it was you." Tojima said walking over. He reached out his hand to help Annalina up as he had yesterday. She took his hand and dusted herself off. "How did you know I was following you?." She asked. "Are you trying to mock me?. As if I wouldn't notice you trudging up the path less than fifty feet behind me." He said. She "Hmph'd." "Why did you follow me?." Tojima said. "Why does it matter?." She asked. "Because you shouldn't be here." Tojima said. "Go home." He continued. Annalina shook her head. "Huh?, no way. I'm coming with you." She said adjusting her glasses. "You're becoming annoying." Tojima said sharply. Annalina winced. "I...I can help. I want to help. I know the area. Do you?." She said defensively. "I don't need anyone's help." He said. Turning away from her. She grabbed onto the sleeve of his cloak. "I think you do." She said. Tojima was silent for several seconds. "What does it matter what you th-... we're burning daylight... just...Just don't get in my way." He said with a sigh. Annalina smiled. "Awesome." She said excitedly. "Does your father even know you're here?." Tojima asked as he picked up his bag and Junko. "I'm twenty years old, he doesn't need to." She said. Tojima felt a headache coming on. "I'm not getting paid enough for this." He thought. "Let's get moving." He said. The two moved at a constant, not speaking. Each studying the other in occasional glances, as if each were an equation that needed to be solved. The silence was finally broken when Annalina spoke up. " Do you have any water?." She asked. Tojima didn't stop walking. " You didn't bring any of your own?." He asked judgmentally. Annalina let out a nervous laugh. " I did...but I drank it all while I was following you." She said. Tojima sighed " Did you even try to preserve it or did you just guzzle whenever you saw fit?." He asked. "uh...the latter." She said. Tojima didn't say anything as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a canteen. " Try not to drink too much, I only have a day and a half supply for one person. I figured that'd be plenty since I wasn't planning on bringing guests." Tojima said. Annalina was silent but nodded as he handed the canteen to her. She sipped it lightly before handing it back. Tojima still said nothing as he placed the water in his cloak. He looked up toward the slightly crimson sky. " We should stop here for the night." He said, breaking his silence. Annalina looked at her watch. " We've still got two and a half hours before nightfall." She argued. " I know but it's supposed to rain tonight, we need to build or find a shelter and start a fire." Tojima said. Annalina thought for a second. "Just a little ways further, there's a small cave. It's nothing special but I think it'll do." She said. Tojima nodded and motioned for her to lead the way. "See, I told you I could help." She said. Tojima didn't respond. Tojima struck the flint in an attempt to get a spark. His first few tries were unsuccessful but on his fifth he was able to get the dry pine needles to catch fire. He quickly did his best to feed the flame until it was the small inferno that he wanted. The dim cave was no illuminated. Junko 'who'd' loudly. " Yes, this will do fine." Tojima said giving Junko a treat. Tojima turned to Annalina who sat cross legged in the stone floor. "Atleast she was smart enough to wear pants and hiking boots this time." Tojima thought. "By the size of that backpack you're carrying, I'm guessing you didn't bring a sleeping bag, did you?." Tojima asked. Annalina shook her head. " I didn't think it'd take this long to make it up the mountain. Me and my brother usually have a carriage, we have a cabin up there so I've never really needed to camp out or anything." Annalina explained. Tojima threw her his. "I don't sleep well. I won't need it." He said sitting down beside the fire. " You atleast brought food, right?." He asked. "Well, yeah. I'm not that stupid." She said, offended. Tojima shrugged. The sunlight faded and the light of the fire became their only source of light. Thunder in the distance became the norm as the night began to drag on and the rain began to fall. Tojima stared deeply into the fire as if it held all the answers in the universe. Annalina snapped him back into reality as she spoke. " Aren't you gonna take that mask off?." She asked. Tojima said nothing. " Why do you wear it in the first place?. If you don't mind me asking." She said. " I do...I do mind." He said. Annalina nodded and went back to trying to make conversation. Several minutes passed as she sat wondering what to say. Tojima reached into his knapsack and pulled out a book. It was hard to make out the title in the light of the fire but she eventually did. " A tale of two cities." She said out loud. Tojima looked up. " You've read it?." He asked. She nodded. "And by the look of that spine, you've read it quite a lot as well." She said. Tojima nodded. " I like the way the author lets us see thing from both sides. There is not a defined right or wrong. The characters are just people, all of them with their own thoughts and ideas." Tojima said. Annalina nodded. " I know right, no matter which characters are talking at the moment you can easily understand all the characters motives. All of them are just trying to have a life worth living." She said. The thick layer of ice had been broken and the two continued to talk for several hours, starting with the two of them talking about their favorite books and authors, to their favorite foods, and finally to family. "It's just me, my dad, and my brother. My mother died when I was younger. I don't really have a lot of memories of her. She travelled a lot so she wasn't home often. Dad said she was a mage and that she died protecting Shirostume from some monster. He said she died a hero." Annalina said as she stared at the stone floor. " I want to be like her, To help people like she did. That's why I became a doctor, you know. I want to travel like she did. Like you do. To experience the world. I just feel so trapped here." She said. "So why don't you leave?." He asked. "Oh please, I wouldn't last two seconds out there on my own. I barely even know any magic." She said. Tojima nodded. "So what about you, Tojima. You must have a family or something right?." Annalina asked. Tojima froze up. He looked away from her and sat silently. "Tojima, are you okay?." She asked. " I don't." He said. Annalina opened her mouth to speak but was cut off. "I killed them." He said so coldly but a sliver of shakiness in his voice stood out. Annalina decided to leave it alone. " I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." She said. Tojima spent the rest of the night after Annalina fell asleep watching the fire crackle and flicker, he reflected on a lot of things but decided that doing so didn't matter. He looked down at the dressed wound on his right forearm. Running his hand along it. "Foolish, to let myself be hurt by those mindless creatures. Have I become so weak?." Tojima thought. He sighed, closing his eyes, but sleep did not find him. The sun had just begun to peak over the horizon when Annalina had been awoken. " Get up, it's time to go." Tojima said. Annalina said nothing as she quickly packed her things and followed Tojima. " Where is this cabin you spoke of yesterday?." Tojima asked. "It shouldn't be too far from here, a few more hours of walking." She said. Tojima nodded but remained silent. They walked in silence for a while until Annalina broke it with a question that had bothered her since the night before. " Last night..." She said. "Were you telling the truth. About killing your parents?." She asked. Tojima stopped in his tracks and stood like that for afew moments before shaking his head. " No, You misunderstand. I played no part in my parents death. I killed my family. not that you knowing the difference matters." Tojima said before he continued walking. " I don't understand. Who did you kill then?." She asked. " It doesn't matter." He said. "Huh?. It does to me. I want to kn-" She started to say but was cut off as Tojima put a hand over her mouth and pulled her into the woods. "Silence." He wisphered. Annalina obeyed. That's when she heard it. Voices other than their own. Two males. Tojima took his hand away from her mouth and kneeled down, motioning for her to do the same. She again obeyed. Tojima peered out from behind the trees to see two men further up the path. They looked to be wearing some kind of leather armor and were carrying weapons of some kind. "Bandits, two of them." Tojima said under his breath. "Huh?. I've never heard of bandits here." Annalina whispered. "I'll take them out." Tojima said, reaching into his cloak. Annalina lightly gripped his arm. "Wait. If there are two of them then there arm probably more, right?. If they've got a camp somewhere near here then maybe they're the ones who drove the Sakana out." She explained. Tojima nodded. " We should follow them back to their camp. We might be able to get more information that way." Tojima said, sliding his hand out of his cloak. Annalina agreed and the two of them waited for the bandits to get moving before following them at a distance but having Junko follow at a much closer distance from the trees. They followed the two bandits for a long while before finally seeing their camp. It was nothing special, a few small tents, one large tent, and a fire pit in the middle. Tojima motioned for her to follow him. The two made their way to a part of the woods only about a hundred feet from the campsite. Junko returned to Tojima, placing ten pebbles on the ground. " Ten bandits." Tojima translated for Annalina. " Your owl is really smart, you've taught it to count?." She asked. "Her name is Junko and she is a female." Tojima said petting the feathers on Junkos back. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." She said. " So what do we do?." Annalina asked. Tojima leaned back against a tree. " We wait until nightfall and then i'll sneak into the camp and find out what I can." Tojima said. Annalina sighed, checking her watch. It would be another four hours until sunset. The sun disappeared over the horizon and one by one the bandits went into their tents. Two patrolled the camp. " They're not being serious about their job. Easy prey." Tojima said. " Stay back here and if anything happens to me..." He started before turning toward Junko. " Junko, If I do not return in an hour. Take Annalina back to town without me." He said. Junko nodded. Tojima turned back to Annalina. " No matter what you hear, promise you will keep your eyes turned away from the camp. Do not look back to it." Tojima said. Annalina nodded but said nothing. Tojima returned her silence and started walking toward the camp. Tojima melted into the darkness. Becoming one with it, in his shade form he slipped by completely unnoticed. He quietly make his way threw the camp. Search bags and tents for anything that could be useful in his mission. After searching nearly the entire camp, Tojima heard a scream. It was a familiar voice.'' " Annalina."'' Tojima thought. He made it to the edge of the camp just in time to see one of the bandits pull Annalina from the woods by her hair. By that time, everyone had awoken and had made their way out of their tents. " Look what I found here, go get the boss!." The bandit holding Annalina by her hair. Tojima had managed to stay out of sight as the commotion played out around him. He would remain in hiding and wait for a good moment to strike. They brought Annalina to the center of the camp, near the firepit. She didn't protest at all nor did she yell. " She's smart...no point in yelling for me and blowing my cover." Tojima thought. It wasn't long before someone came out of the larger tent. His face remained hidden until he came into the light of the fire. Tojima felt his eyes widen and his chest tighten as he saw the man who now stood by the fire pit. He was tall, had black hair and wore a gasmask. A black hoody and jeans. "Well, what'do have here?." The man said. The voice was exactly the same as it had been four years ago. Suddenly, Junko appeared and screeched loudly as she attacked the masked man. The exploded in a rage and sent flames out around him. Dropping the old owl to the ground. Junko struggled to get up. " The hell was that?." The man said holding onto the wound Junko had inflicted. The man walked over to Junko but stopped in his tracks as he stared at the bird, recognizing it. " Holy... well, well." The man said turning toward Annalina. " I don't know who you are and I don't care, but you're going to tell me where you got that owl." The man said. " Why do you care?." Annalina said. The man grabbed Annalina by the throat. " Because I just so happen to be an avid bird watcher." The man said with sarcasm in his voice. The men around him laughed " Shut up!." The man yelled. " Because if you don't tell me, I will kill you...or worse. I won't." He said. Tojima exited shade form and stood a few feet from The man. " That's enough, Adam." Tojima said. The man's eyes widened as he looked at Tojima. He looked as though he were staring at a ghost. Adam let go of Annalina and just continued staring at Tojima for a bit longer. "It's been a long while, Akiru." Adam said. " Not nearly long enough, Adam." Tojima said. " Come now. What did I say about you calling me that. Call me by my nickname." Adam said. "I don't have time for your games." Tojima said. "Say it, Akiru!." Adam said, a smile forming under his gasmask. " Pyro." Tojima said with a hint of disgust in his voice. Adam smiled. " I always loved the way you said it. You've always hated me." Adam said. " I knew that one day you'd try to kill me, I knew and I waited and waited. So imagine my surprise when I come back from a jib only to find that everyone in our guild was dead. Can you imagine it. God, I could still see the look of betrayal of poor little flares face. She loved you, did you know that?." Adam said with a slight chuckle. " So yeah, I come back from a job to find everyone bathing in their own frozen blood and you, gone off on some magical adventure somewhere or wherever you ended up" Adam said. " I was so pissed. I blamed myself at first, but then I realized that it wasn't my fault. I wasn't there and by the time I got back, they were long dead. So I started blaming you." Adam said." Now here you are. Standing in front of me. The ghost who's haunted me for the last four years. Why did you come here, Akiru?." Adam asked. " Come to finish the job?." Adam asked. "I didn't come here for you, Adam." Tojima said. Adam nodded. "Then why?." He asked. " The Sakana have been attacking people in town, I think you're the ones driving the out of the mountains." Tojima said. " Ah, the Sakana. Those nasty things. I didn't know there was a species that had teeth. Yeah, if me and my gang was gonna hang around, those suckers had to go. Started killing them on sight, smashing up their nests. Then one day, poof!. They're gone. Didn't know where they went. Didn't care." Adam said. "Oh, I completely forgot what I was doing." Adam said. " Is this yours?." Adam asked, pointing at Annalina. Tojima said nothing. Adam sighed. "I guess some things never change. doesn't really matter." Adam said. "Boys, you know what to do. Be careful though, this guy is the one who slaughtered the first incarnation of Shadowcast." Adam said. The bandits began to move in. "Annalina." Tojima said. "Close your eyes and cover your ears. Don't even think about opening them until I say so." He said. Annalina nodded and did as he said. Despite doing so, the screams that came next were too loud for hear hands to completely muffle. She could feel herself begin to shiver. Never before had he heard those inhuman screams of agony. Tojima stood in the exact same spot he'd been in. Blood soaked shadow tendril extended from his back. Adam stood there. There was undoubtedly a smirk underneath his gasmask. " I told them to be careful." He said. " You sent them to be slaughtered." Tojima said. Adam shrugged. " I wanted you all to myself and they were too loyal to let me have my fun. They would have jumped in at the first sign that there was a chance I'd lose." Adam said. " I don't want to fight you, Adam." Tojima said. Adam pulled a large knife from his belt. " I assure you, the feeling is not mutual." Adam said charging at Tojima. Tojima side stepped Adams knife thrust, using a shadow tendril to knock him off balance. Adam caught himself and turned around quickly, slashing at Tojima. Tojima jumped back. " Too many of us have died. Please stop." Tojima said. " And whose fault is that?." Adam said as a fire ball appeared in his unarmed hand. He shot it forward with explosive power. Tojima brought up a shadow shield. The fire exploded on contact with the shield, catching everything around him on fire. "Damn it." Tojima said, realizing that Annalina would end up getting hurt if they went all out in the camp. Tojima took off toward the forest. "Why're you running away?. You coward!." Adam yelled as he shot another ball of fire. Tojima ducked and the fire ball went past him, exploding on a nearby tree. Tojima dodged fireball after fireball as he lead Adam deeper into the now burning forest. Tojima quickly turned around, using his shadow tendril to slash through a tree. The massive hunk of burning wood fell to the ground. Adam dropped into a slide, making it under and past the tree just before it could crush him. Tojima threw several throwing knives at him. Two were able to graze him but Adam quickly used his knife to block the others. "You think you can kill me that easily?!" Adam yelled thrusting his knife at Tojima again. Tojima once again side stepped the rage fueled attack, grasping Adams wrist, Tojima brought up an elbow which connected with Adams face. Annalina opened her eyes, despite telling Tojima she wouldn't. She quickly covered her mouth as she witnessed the mess before her. She quickly scrambled to her feet, remembering why she'd disobeyed Tojima's orders. Junko. Annalina ran to where the poor bird had fallen. The owl's wing had been burnt but other than that, she'd be fine. Annalina gave a sigh of relief but quickly felt worry rise in her again as she stared at the raging inferno that had once been a forest. Adam stumbled back grabbing at his gasmask, he tore it off, throwing it to the side. It instantly began to melt in the heat. Adams face was bloody, his nose was obviously broken. " I came out here, hoping to rebuild what you destroyed. I was going to resurrect Shadowcast!, here outside of this little outta the way shithole. Just like the original had down. Start off on the edge of some small town until you'd become strong enough to move on and take over other tiny villages. Never go for any of them big towns though. Wouldn't want to catch the council's attention." Adam laughed. "But you had to come along, screw everything up a second time. What?, first time wasn't enough. We took you in!, the lost little orphan boy, fed you!, clothed you!, taught you how to defend yourself, and you betrayed us!." Adam yelled. " You made me kill people." Tojima said. Adam laughed. "Made you?. You're joking right?." Adam said. "You came to us, did whatever we asked gleefully. That's why the old man liked you so much. You were his most trusted lapdog. Following every order without hesitation. Don't pretend like we made you do anything." Adam yelled. Tojima said nothing. "What?, got nothing to say. It's because you know I'm right. You know liked it. I saw it in your eyes." Adam said. "Shut up!." Tojima said. Adam laughed. "What's wrong?. Did I hit a nerve?." He said. Tojima Grabbed a falling log and hurled it at Adam. He dodged it and charged at Tojima. Adam was on him to quick for Tojima to react. Adam buried his knife into Tojima's side and began to jab it in and out. Tojima winced in pain as he felt the knife sliding into him. Quickly wrapped his arms around Adam. Tojima brought around his shadow tendril, impaling Adam in several different locations. "I'm sorry." Tojima said as he felt Adam become dead weight. Tojima too fell to the ground, unable to move as pain surged through his body. He could tell he was bleeding badly. Tojima looked up to the sky, past the burning canopy that he was sure would sound collapse and burry him. He saw the stars, high above him. Shining so brightly. They began to become fuzzy and dim as his vision began to fade. "I suppose this is a fitting end for some such as I. To die alone like this, at the hands of someone I'd wronged." Tojima thought as he closed his eyes, excepting his fate. He felt himself slipping away and suddenly felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Fear. Something in the back of his mind screamed at him. "I don't want to die yet. I haven't done anything worth doing. If I die now, i'll be forgotten. No one will even remember that I existed." He thought. " But isn't that what I wanted." He argued with himself. " No!." Was his final thought as he drifted away. Tojima opened his eyes to a bright light. " So you made it." Annalina's voice said in a way that tried to hide her excitement. " You were pretty messed up when I found you. I'd thought for sure you'd have died from smoke inhalation if you didn't bleed out." She said. " You saved me?." Tojima asked. "Yeah, It took a hell of a long time to get you stable but I'm pretty proud of myself. That nasty wound probably won't even leave a scar now thanks to me." She said. Tojima felt the warm sun on his face. "Where is my mask?." Tojima asked. It was lying on the ground next to you but I didn't have time to grab it. Not that I think I could have anyways. You're really heavy." She said. "It's fine, I guess." Tojima said. He remembered back to the last few moments of consciousness he'd had. " Thank you." Tojima said. "Thank you for saving my life." He said feeling tears welling in his eyes. " Are you okay?." Annalina asked. "I'm fine." He said trying to get it. " Hold on there big guy, you shouldn't be moving. I mean hell, you shouldn't even be alive." She said, kneeling down beside him. " My brother and father are on their way. They'll have the cart and we'll get you back to town." She said. Tojima nodded, feeling helpless. Tojima felt a pecking on his arm. Tojima turned to see Junko, one wing wrapped up, hopping around. "Hey, there. Looks like we both got beat up pretty bad." He said petting the injured bird. Just as Annalina had said, her brother and father arrived an hour later. After getting a long lecture about her sneaking out, Annalina helped Nathan and Lurdes load Tojima into the cart. They made their way to town in record time and Tojima spent the next several weeks under Annalina's care until he had healed enough to be able to leave. With the bandits gone, the Sakana slowly began to make their way back up the mountain and reported attacks grew less and less frequent. When the time had come for Tojima to leave Annalina walked him to the edge of town to see him off. "Don't forget to take your medicine everyday and call me if you start feeling the pains in your side again." She said. Tojima nodded. Annalina suddenly fell silent. "You will come back, right?." She asked. " Eventually?." She continued. " I don't know." He said. "Tojima!." Annalina whined. Tojima smiled a slightly. " Sure, I'll come visit every now and then." She said patting her head. "Make sure to read that book I recommended." She said. "Of course, I promise." He said, reaching into his cloak and pulling out one of his spare masks. He walked away. Once out of earshot of Annalina, Tojima turned to Junko. " What do you think?." He asked. Junko who'd a few times. "You're right. Lady Inari did say that it would be good for me to socialize and make friends." He said.